March is almost sorted. I must now announce that we have made that great milestone - 19 years of marriage. And as everyone knows, the traditional gift for 19 years of marriage is a...
Compound Mitre Saw?
Oh and it IS a thing of beauty! Mace from TotalTools (he's not, by the way - he was lovely), was a little shocked at just how chirpy a girl can get when purchasing toolage of this horsepower. (Oh Happy Day!!!)
An angel by the name of Dave just happened to be needing a student so he could demonstrate just how well he can teach someone to use one of these beasties. He was terrific - before I had my lessons with Dave, my biggest fear was mucking stuff up and looking like a goose. Now my biggest fear is loss of limbs. A healthy respect for a set of teeth like my DeWalt's is no bad thing I think.
Another angel by the name of Peter just happened to be offering an Owner Builder's course, just down the road. How fortuitous is that! So now I have a little bit of knowledge, (and a few useful admonitions!) and am ready for a REAL estimate of the cost of this project - right down to nails screws plans coffee saws, classes, reconstructive surgery...nope, won't need that one, insurances, etc.

So for devilment, here are my wild guesses.
Time
1. It will take me a week (once I have some real plans to go from rather than my sketches) to do all the takeoffs. (I know there are builders who can do it in minutes - I reckon a week amongst everything else I am doing will be tight.) Thanks to the course I just did, i can factor in everything! Light switches, pelmets, floor coverings...

2. It will take at least 8 weeks before we are good to go, what with permits still pending etc. Gosh that makes me itchy to chop stuff up!

3. The build itself - and all the installations (solar HWS/panels, Tanks etc) will take until the end of the year. (Gosh, if you can build a whole house in 8 months..)

Cost
4. The total cost will come in somewhere around $100K. Gosh I'd like it to be less. But I need to make the estimate real so I can approach the bank, who I'm sure will be overjoyed to hand us some more money.

Other stuff
5. My children, man, pets and I will make it to the other side healthy and happy and still want to live here! That darling husband and I WILL make it to our 20th anniversary - and have a stylish and comfortable new living room in which to celebrate it.

So there you have it - Nostradamus for a new century. Now I know you hoary old owner builders (and I mean that in a GOOD way) are just smiling in a sort of smug way and saying "Yep" to yourselves, and possibly even sucking air in between the teeth... but give the girl a go, eh?
I'll let you know shortly where the numbers really come out at. According to my estimates, in about a week!
Cheerio!
Amanda